Oh man, I just read through this thread and didn't know the posts were deleted until halfway, so I thought for Mako was became some raging schizophrenic with angry LTD issues and everyone was going along with it. I'm less alarmed now.
But slightly disappointed.
Also, ontopic:
If context is what matters, then how does "being loved by many" or "loved by Johnny" fit in when Nomura was talking about Tifa, specifically in the movie. Seriously, think about what was important and who Tifa interacted during AC. Cloud. Their relationship played a central theme in the movie (and you can argue Aerith's and Cloud's as well). Her being loved by many? Not so much. Being a love one? Yeah, that would fit, but that would be spanned under the "mother" and "comrade" comments. And so why would they just not mention one of the most developed aspects of the movie?
It makes no sense from any angle that the "koibito" term would not describe Cloud's or Tifa's.